While the speed in the streets of Paris goes to 30 km / h, the streets of Nantes saw the 30 signs blooming a year ago. Following many metropolises, French or European, which had measured the benefits of reducing speed in town in terms of accidents.
Going from 50 to 30 km / h on 80% of the municipal road network, the measure applied in Nantes in 2020 between two confinements had not made as much noise as the sanitary pass in 2021. The city of Nantes was not a pioneer in this area, but the experiments already carried out for several years, and especially the results obtained in terms of road safety in other metropolises, French or European, had convinced the municipality to embark on this path without further delay.
A year later, Bassem Asseh, deputy mayor of Nantes, indicates that it is difficult to be able to establish a fair balance sheet of the application of this new traffic rule. “It is difficult to be able to make an observation as the years 2020 and 2021 are not comparable with the previous years. The confinements, the teleworking, have profoundly modified the mobility needs. We do not want to open up to criticism by publishing figures which would not be comparable “.
20% fewer accidents
In cities which have a precedent in decision-making, such as Grenoble or Brussels for example, Bassem Asseh underlines “a 20% drop in the number of accidents and 25% in the number of injured “.
“The rule is 30 km / h, 50 km / h is the exceptionThe city of Nantes recalls having taken this decision so that the users of the street, pedestrians, cyclists or motorists move and feel safe in relation to each other. “It takes more distance to stop at 50 km / h than at 30 km / h, the calmed traffic reduces the risk of accidents and stress”. Bassem Asseh also stresses that progress in terms of motorist comfort has often led to a false impression of safety for drivers.
30 km / h, the responsibility of each mayor
No accident figures in Nantes for the moment, but speed measurements all the same. “We made twice as many verbalizations at the start of 2021 than at the start of 2020, but adds the chosen one, “the number, 200 PV, is not considerable either”. A number which clearly indicates that all motorists have not yet taken the measure of the issue of road safety.
Will there be any changes in the future in Nantes? “A priori no, we adjust according to the reality on the ground. In principle, the secondary streets are at 30 km / h, the major axes where Chronobus and trams run remain at 50 km / h”.
This decision to limit to 30 km / h is the responsibility of each mayor in his municipality. The Nantes decisions do not apply to other municipalities in the metropolis. Even if all the mayors, ultimately, are moving in the same direction. Each one choosing to reduce, or not, the speed according to the use which is made of the municipal road network.
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